Multi-year calendars



April 12, 1960 c. c. CORBETT MULTI-YEAR CALENDARS 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed April 29, 1958 1 NVEN TOR. (2256 6. 6 017 5 1 KEY: FIND "HUI"? 1" "02 AN!) IN! (ROSHIIIS mm DIM [0 MR.

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MULTI-YEAR CALENDARS Filed April 29, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR 621521; 6. 62195517 ATTORNEY United States Patent '0 MULTI-YEAR CALENDARS Carl C. Corbett, Tulsa, Okla.

Application April 29, 1958, Serial No. 731,806

2 Claims. (Cl. 40-113) This invention relates to calendars, and more particularly to multi-year calendars of the general type shown in my prior Patent No. 2,768,459, issued October 30, 1956.

Said prior patent was directed to a calendar comprising an opaque envelope or casing having suitable windows therein, in combination with a member mounted for sliding movement in said casing and bearing characters visible through said windows.

The present invention relates to a multi-year calendar comprising a flat charthaving openings therethrough and a dial rotatably mounted on the back of said chart and bearing characters visible through said openings.

As in my said prior patent, the general object of the present invention is to provide a multi-year calendar which will automatically show the exact number of days for all 28-, 29-, 30- or 31-day calendar months, with no separate or special adjustments required for the display of January and February leap year calendars.

A specific object of the present invention is to devise a simple and practical calendar of the dial type having the above advantages.

Another specific object is to improve the arrangement of date numerals on the dial, so that, among other advantages, a minimum number of radial columns of numerals is required.

A still further object of the invention is to improve the arrangement of the table of years on the chart, in which improved arrangement leap years are placed in separate columns from the common years, for a purpose hereinafter more fully explained.

Yet another object is to devise'improved means, invisible from the face of the chart, for rotatably mounting the dial on the back thereof.

With the above and other objects in view, and to improve generally on the details of such devices, the invention consists in the construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a front view of the complete calendar with the parts assembled;

Fig. 2 is a face view of one form of dial;

Fig. 3 is a central longitudinal section on an enlarged scale through the calendar shown in Fig. 1, parts being broken away, this view illustrating one method of mounting the dial;

Fig. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the parts shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 .is a face view similar to Fig. 2 but showing a modified construction of dial;

Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view similar to Fig. 3 but showing a modified method of mounting the dial, and

- Fig. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the parts shown in Fig. 6.

I Referring to the drawings in detail, and more particularly first to Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4, my improved calendar comprises a relatively rigid, flat, rectangular panel 1 an a circular dial 2 'rotatably mounted on the back of the panel. The method of mounting the dial on the panel is clearly shown in Figs. 2, 3 and 4. The dial 2 is provided with a large central opening 2 as shown in Figs. 2 and 4. A disc 3 of substantially the same thickness as the dial 2 is glued or cemented to the back of the panel 1 in the position indicated at 3* in Fig. 4. This disc 3 is slightly smaller than the opening 2 in the dial so that it may be received within this opening. After the disc 3 has been cemented to the back of the panel as described, the dial 2 is placed in position in contact with the panel so that the opening 2 thereof fits around the disc 3, and the dial may rotate on the periphery of this disc as a bearing. A retaining disc 4, somewhat larger than the disc 3, is then glued or cemented concentrically to the outside of the disc 3 to produce the assembly shown in Fig. 3. edges of the retaining disc overlap the inner portions of the dial and thus hold it in position.

It will be particularly observed that when viewed from the front or face of the panel, the means for rotatably mounting the dial is completely invisible, and this tends to impart to the device somewhat of a mystery appeal.

In Figs. 5, 6 and 7, I have shown a modified construction of dial and a different method of mounting the same on the panel. In this modification the dial 2 is solid, continuous or imperforate, being devoid of any central opening.

A small disc 5 is glued or cemented to the back of the panel in the position indicated at 5 in Fig. 7, and a disc 6, substantially larger than the disc 5, is then glued or cemented to it in concentric relation. A ring 7, of substantially the same thickness as the disc 6, and a disc 8 of substantially the same thickness as the disc 5, are also provided. The ring 7 is preferably of the same external diameter as the disc 8 and is glued or cemented to the outer annular zone thereof. The disc 8 has a central opening 8 slightly larger than the disc '5 so that it may loosely fit over said disc, and surrounding this opening, inside of the ring 7 is a smooth or uncoated circular zone 8 of substantially the diameter of the disc 6. The ring 7 fits loosely around the periphery of the disc 6 and is glued or cemented to the face side of the dial 2', in concentric relation. Thus, when the parts are assembled, the mounting means, including the discs 5, 6 and 8, and the ring 7, are interposed between the front of the dial and the back of the panel, the dial and chart being thus slightly separated, but it will be understood that this separation, as shown in Fig. 6, is considerably exaggerated for the sake of clearness.

One method of assembling the parts is to first cement the disc 5 to the back of the panel 1. Then place the disc 8 around it. Then cement the disc 6 to the disc 5. Then place the ring 7 around disc 6 and cement it to the outer zone of disc 8. Finally cement the dial 2' to the ring 7.

This mounting means for the dial is entirely invisible, not only from the front, but also from the back of the assembled calendar, thus lending an air of mystery.

While the dial 2 has been described as imperforate, it will be understood that in practice a very small perforation is usually made at the center to receive a mechanical device used for the proper concentric assembling of the several parts.

As shown in Fig. 1, the panel 1 carries on its face a chart displaying the names of the months, as indicated at 10, these being arranged in a column. On either side of this column of months is a table of key characters 11, arranged in rows and columns. There are twelve rows, one for each month, and fourteen columns, seven on each side of the column of months.

There are twenty-eight different key characters, comprising all of the letters of the alphabet, plus two addi- It will be noted that the outer tioual characters. I prefer to form the twenty-six letters of the alphabet as capital letters and to use, as the two additional characters, two small letters, namely, m and since the capital letter M, key to one of the 31-day calendars, and the small letter m, key to one of the 29-day calendars, both symbolize calendars starting on Wednesday. Similarly, both the capital letter N and the small letter n both symbolize calendars starting on Thursday. I

. By the same token, the small letters t and g? could have been used instead of m and n, since the corresponding capital letters F and G symbolize 30-day calendars likewise starting respectively on Wednesday and Thursday. r

i It will bes'cen that the twelve rows or keyletters arranged in fourteen columns produce 168 key character positions, so that many of the key characters appear in the table a number of difiieernt times. Thus, two of the key'letters are listed fifteen times each, five, fourteen times each and seven, eight times each. The key char acters appearing in the row corresponding with the month of February, however, including the additional characters m and n, occur only once. 7

On the face of the key chart carried by the panel 1 there is also a table of years 12, shown as beginning with the year .1900 and ending with the year 197 8. The numerals indicating these years are also arranged in rows and columns, there being fourteen rows and fourteen columns. The numerals are arranged chronologically in each row and in consecutive rows.

' it will be noted that the leap years 13 are arranged in different columns from the common years, the columns of common years being spaced apart and the columns of leap years being interposed between adjacent columns of common years.

All of the columns of years are disposed in line with the columns of key characters above described.

It will be further noted that two blank spaces precede and follow each leap year listing in .every row.

From the foregoing it will be seen that each key character position corresponds with one particular month in one of the years occurring in one particular column. Thus, the key character Y corresponds with the month of February in each of the leap years 1904, 1932" and 1960.

The dial, shown in both Figs. 2 and 5, carries on its face the same key characters as appear on the key chart above described, these key characters being arranged in a circular series, the small letters m and n immediately following Z.

The panel bearing the key chart has a small window or opening 9 arranged to register with the series of key characters on the dial so that these key characters may be displayed one at a time through this window or opening, as the dial is turned.

The dial, in both Figs. 2 and 5, also carries calendar dates indicating the day of the month. These dates or numerals are arranged in four sequences, each beginning with 1. One of these sequences ends with 28, another With 29, another with 30 and still another with 31. Thus, the numeral 31 appears only once on the dial, the numeral 30 appears twice, the numeral 29 appears three times and the numeral 28 appears four times. All of these sequences except the one ending with 28 extend around the dial for more than 360 and completely overlap. This results in the formation of twenty-eight radial columns, each such column being in line with one of the key characters appearing in the circular series.

It will be further noted that several of the numerals at the beginning of each sequence such, for example, as the first three, and several at the end of each sequence, 112-8": r12 a i r The selection of the particular small letters .fmf and It tends to eliminate errors in finding desired dates,

true circular arcs struck around the center of the dial, while all of the intermediate numerals of each sequence between the first and last groups above mentioned are disposed in spirals. This arrangement provides for a more realistic display of the calendars than if thesequences were uniform spirals throughout.

At its lower end, as seen in Fig. 1, the panel 1 carrying the key chart is provided 'with an open slot 1 having radial sides and an arcuate upper edge, and along this arcuate upper edge appear the names of the days or" the week. This slot provides a display area through which the group of numerals on the dial constituting any one calendar month may be viewed.

in use, the dial is turned until the key-character corresponding with the desired year and month appears in the window opening 9. This will bring the group of date numerals for that year and month into view in the display area formed by the notch 1?. In Fig. 1, the dial is I shown as having been turned until the key character Y appears in the window .9, and, as above pointed out, this corresponds with the month of February in one of the leap years "1904, 1932 or 1960 and a monthly calendar containing twenty-nine days appears in the display area, as it should. If the key character R, for example, had been selected instead of Y, it would show the month of February for a common year such as 1909, 1915, etc., and the calendar appearing in the display area would end with the numeral 28, such as that seen at the upper right of Fig. 2.'

When setting the dial for 31-day month ending on Saturday, only the sequence ending in 31 comes into use, and for 28-, 29-, or 30-day months ending on Saturday, the date numerals following 28, namely, 29, 30 and 31," the date numerals following 29, namely 30 and 31, and the date numeral tollowingn 30, namely, 31," are respectively concealed from view automatically by the panel carrying the key chart.

-it will be particularly noted that with my improved arrangement of the table of years and key characters it is not necessary to make any adjustment or special observation for years which are leap years, since all that is necessary is to turn the dial until the key character corresponding to the desired month and year appears in the window 5, when the correct calendar for that mont will be brought into view at the display area.

It will be noted that the names of the months appear only once on the key chart, and are not duplicated, and the same is true of the numerals representing the years.

Although I have shown my multi-year calendar as starting with the year 1900 and ending with the year 1978, I wish to make clear that I do not need to start and end my calendar with these particular years and am not limited to the number of years I have shown or to the specific area I have shown for listing years and key char acters, since a multiple listing of key characters can be arranged to function correctly with the twelve month listings and with a relevant arrangement of any equal, smaller or larger listing of years.

Having clearly set forth the construction, utility and advantages of my invention, I wish particularly to state that modification in the details of construction, arrangement and assembly would not be a departure from the spirit and scopeot the invention as hereinafter claimed.

What I claim is:

l. A multi-year calendar comprising a generally rectangular panel bearing the chart and a circular dial mounted on the rear of said panel for relative rotation with respect thereto, said chart comprising a table of years arranged in columns and rows, a listing of the months, and a table of twenty-eight diiferent key characters, also arranged in columns and rows, some of said key characters being repeated a number of times in said table, said key characters being adjacent to and interrelated with said columns of years and with said listing of thernonths in such a way that each key character position intho' table corresponds with a particular month of the years in some particular column, said dial having thereon numerals indicating the days of the month, said numerals being arranged in four overlapping arcuate sequences of successive single numerals, such sequences ending with the numerals 28, 29," 30 and 31 respectively, whereby the numeral 31 occurs only once on the dial, all of said sequences except the one ending in the numeral 28 extending at least 360 around the dial, said numerals also being arranged in twenty-eight radial columns, and said dial also having thereon twenty-eight key characters arranged in a circular series around the center, and corresponding with the key characters on said chart, the panel bearing said chart having at one end an open notch having an arcuate inner edge and defining a display area of such size as to expose a group of said numerals indicating the days of some one month only, and having the names of the days of the week arranged in a row adjacent said arcuate edge, said panel also having a relatively small opening positioned to register with the circular series of key characters on said dial, said 7 opening being of such size as to render said key characters visible, one at a time, as said dial is rotated.

2. A calendar comprising a generally rectangular, relatively stationary panel bearing a chart comprising the names of the months, and a listing of a number of years, and a circular imperforate dial having on its face numerals indicating calendar dates, said panel having an open notch at one end providing a display area, and means invisible from the face of said panel for rotatably mounting said dial on the back thereof, in such position that it projects beyond the edge of said panel and a portion of the date numerals thereon are displayed through said notch, said invisible means for mounting being interposed between the dial and panel, said mounting means including a disc fixedly anchored to but spaced from the back of said panel, a second disc of larger external diameter, and having an inner zone confined between said first disc and said panel, and a ring surrounding said first disc and cemented both to said dial and the outer zone of said second disc.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Dreyfus Oct. 3, 1893 

